The Camping Trip
by ChaosGirl607
Summary: After the chaos of the last camping trip, the Horseland crew is reluctant to go on another one. This time, it is different. Emotions will burn and friendships will be questioned. The brightside is, Chloe and Zoey at least have something to distract themselves with; matchmaking their favorite couple. But will it be enough to prevent them from playing with fire? FINALLY UPDATED.
1. The Camping Trip

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After the hrrible fire accident that Zoey and Chloe caused, they didn't want to go camping anytime soon. However, Horseland was under renovation and Bailey's parents had decided to send all of Horseland's students to go camping. Of course, they reminded Will to give Zoey and Chloe a responsibility that won't harm anyone, which meant that putting out the fire and cooking was out (Sarah was especially relieved; that way no one be unintentionally food poisoned). Then, you could especially expect Zoey and Chloe to complain, which they did.

"Ugh… this is sooooooooo unfair, Zoey; I mean another stupid camping trip! Last time, I broke my nails digging for the new trees we burned down and got a cold from swimming across the lake!" Chloe complained to her sister.

"Not to mention that the gas like, nearly killed us and clogged my lungs. I got dirt in my hair, Chloe, Dirt! I had to wash my hair, like a million times!" Zoey nagged.

"Hey, Zoey, I have an idea. What if we brought our slam book and a few magazines? They won't weigh much and ruin the packing." Chloe suggested.

"Yeah, great idea sis, that would be totally fun. We could totally record the gossip we catch from this camping trip! Oh my gosh, did you notice how Alma was staring at Bailey when he thought she was reading?" Zoey exclaimed.

"Too bad for her, because I am the one Bailey truly likes." Chloe replied holding her head up high.

"Nu uh, he likes me!" Zoey argued.

Sarah was grooming Scarlet in the meanwhile. "Hey, Scarlet, do you think we'll have fun on this trip? There are more people coming, but that may mean more people to make sure that Zoey and Chloe don't mess up like last time. Then, again, the more people to race, the more people to beat, girl. We can show them that you're the fastest horse in all of Horseland!" Sarah said to Scarlet.

Just then, Will came up. "Hey Sarah, just wanted to check your bags first." Sarah nodded her head in approval and continued to groom Scarlet.

As he searched through her bags, Sarah turned towards Will "Did I pack well enough for this trip, Will?"

"Yeah, and it's a lot better than Zoey and Chloe's. They had Star Magazines and a Slam Book in there. Sometimes, I just don't understand those girls." Will replied. Sarah giggled and Will walked on to the next rider and their bags.

**Just wanted to experiment with my first Horseland/ Sarah and Will/ actual real story.**

**Please give me your opinions or suggestions, but don't be too harsh if you don't like it. I still plan on continuing this story, though.**


	2. Partners for the Trip

**Before I start, I'd just like to thank Taiora Freak for the encouragement to continue this story. Hope you enjoy this! Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland. If I did, Will and Sarah would already be together. However, I do own the background characters listed.**

"Hey, Sarah!" Bailey said as he led Aztec to the stall next to her. "Hi, Bailey. Are you excited about this camping trip?" Sarah asked.

Bailey nodded his head and continued excitedly "Yeah, I heard that since the group is sooooooooo huge, that we all get partners for the trip. From there, sets of partners are grouped together as a team for a competition at the end of the trip."

"That's exciting. Who do you want as your partner?" Sarah responded as she prepared Scarlet for riding.

Bailey rubbed the back of his neck "Well, since, I don't want to be stuck with Chloe or Zoey, I guess Alma, Molly, or you."

Sarah nodded her head understandingly.

"Hey, Chloe, have you heard about the partnership thing?" Zoey asked her sister.

"Yeah, Sis, and I sooooooooo want Bailey to be mine!" Chloe responded.

"No, Bailey is MINE!" Zoey shouted.

"Ugh, fine, you CAN be partners with him if he lets you, though I seriously doubt it. He likes me!" Chloe bartered.

"Well, gee, sis, you can always go with Will." Zoey suggested.

"No, Zoey, that'd be breaking up true love. I mean Bailey and I are meant to be, but Sarah and Will are also meant to be." Chloe explained to her little sister.

"Oh…., I get it. You want to use this partnership thing as a romantic set up. That's a good idea; think of all the gossip we'll get!" Zoey exclaimed. Then she remembered what her sister had said before that. "Hey! I am the only one meant for Bailey!"

"Whatever, sis, I also heard that the partners are predetermined. Care to make sure that a certain two people end up together?" Chloe responded.

"Okay, riders, as you all probably know, we are going to pair you up with a partner for the trip. You and your partner should look out for each other, considering how we are traveling in a large group. Sets of partners will be put in a team. All the teams will compete throughout this camping trip, but remember to be fair and sportsmanlike. Your partners are predetermined on how you get along and if you and your partner would truly look out for each other," Will explained to all the riders gathered in front of the barn.

"Hey, Sarah, who do you want for your partner? I hope mine is muy bueno!" Alma whispered to Sarah.

"Well, Alma, I don't really know. I won't really mind who I get paired up with," Sarah replied.

Meanwhile, Will had been reading off of the list, and Molly and the other riders (Not Sarah and Alma) had been staring and listening intently for their name.

"Bailey Handler and…..um…well, we'll get back to that," Will called. Bailey had just raised his eyebrow in curiosity. Who was his partner?

"Molly Washington and Jesse Golden, Chloe and Zoey Stilton, Jack Totters and Lindsay Yanette, Carrie Rehara and Kristin Anderson, Rick Greene and Krystal Parkington, Lana Powers and Mara Fralla, Mira Kellington and Rena Uyshi, and Bailey Handler and Alma Rodriguez," Will finished, calling out all the names on the list.

"See…. I told you! "Zoey hissed to her sister. "Will noticed that we crossed out Sarah and Alma's names; and it didn't help that you crossed out "Bailey Handler and Zoey Stilton" whenever I wrote it down. He couldn't even read it! Now, stupid Alma has Bailey and Molly has Jesse."

"Shhh….. Shut up! Someone will hear your ugly nagging voice!" Chloe elbowed her sister as she said this.

"Umm… Will, I think you skipped me," Sarah called out.

"Hold on a minute, "Will said as he searched the list for her name. "That's weird," Will said scratching his head, "Your name isn't even on here, Sarah. Neither was Alma's but I paired her up with Bailey. I guess you could go with me."

Sarah nodded her head."That's okay with me." "Actually, it's fantastic to me!" Sarah thought.

The ride to the campgrounds had been long, but fun. The campgrounds weren't the same one as last time, though. The old one had been too small and on top of that, it was still burned and the trees still weren't done growing.

"Hey, Alma, don't you think it's weird that both of our names weren't on the list?" Sarah asked Alma as she set up one of the tents.

"Sí, es muy extraño, Menos mal que yo estaba en pareja con Bailey, y tienes voluntad. Yes, it is very weird, it's a good thing that I was paired up with Bailey, and you have Will," Alma responded.

Meanwhile, two eavesdropping Stiltons were bickering. "See! Now Sarah and Alma are suspicious! "Zoey exclaimed.

"Shut up! They'll be suspicious if you keep opening your mouth!" Chloe scolded.

**I just decided to stop it there. What do you think? Please comment.**


	3. Commencing Operation Stilton's Setup

**Thank you, Taiora Freak for commenting on my story and encouraging me. I'm writing chapter 3 for your sake! Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland, or else I would have put more episodes in. I do own the background characters.**

"Okay, so we're both here. Now, how do we plan on doing this?" Chloe asked as she looked around their shared tent.

"Well…..about that… I didn't come up with a plan yet. But I do have a cool name for the set up though. "Operation Stilton's Setup" is what I came up with," Zoey responded.

"Who put you in charge of naming the operation? Whatever, if you don't have a plan, I'm going to go hang out with Bailey," Chloe yelled.

"Gee, Sis, no need to yell. I mean, what is better than a natural setup? Besides we work a lot better when we improvise. And on top of that….. Hey! Bailey is MINE!" Zoey replied.

"Ugh… whatever….. I'm too tired from riding and putting up this….tent," Chloe's face scrunched up in disgust before she picked up a Star Magazine and flopped down on her sleeping bag.

"Fine, I'll come up with the whole thing! I'll also take Bailey for myself!" Zoey yelled at her sister as she turned towards the tent exit. Then she stopped and turned around, "Wait a minute…. Isn't that MY issue of Star Magazine?"

"Sis, we all share in this tent, but you can have the one about Spike McSchmike's fashion disaster . Or you can take the Slam Book and see if we have any gossip on people that we can use as minions for this operation," Chloe suggested, desperate to keep the issue in her hands.

"Good idea! I'll look in the Slam Book!" Zoey shouted running towards her bag. Five minutes afterward, she snapped the book shut shouting "I got it, I got it!"

Chloe looked up curiously from her Star Magazine, "You got what? ".

"Whatever, sis, I'll tell you on the way to dinner. But let's do our evil laugh first; I've been practicing so much!" Zoey explained.

Chloe nodded "Ready? All together now; Muhahahahaha!"

Sarah stared out into the fire. Everyone else was too. Zoey and Chloe had been telling about this horrible shopping experience for their scary story.

"And then…. I tripped over the escalator and dropped my Gucci bag!" Zoey exclaimed.

"We got blisters on our feet and broke a few nails after that ….scary… shopping trip!" Chloe continued. "Oh….. Hold me, Bailey, I'm so scared!" Chloe said as she launched herself onto poor Bailey.

"Me too!" Zoey exclaimed as she launched herself onto Bailey.

After everyone had finished their story and their s'mores, they bid each other goodnight and went to sleep. Sarah had left last, but quickly tripped over an object dropped on the ground.

"Hmm….. What's this?" Sarah thought as she picked the object and herself off the ground.

In the moonlight, she could clearly see that it was a book; however, chocolate had covered the title and possibly the name stating who it belonged to.

"Well, whatever it is, I'll go see in Alma, Molly, and I's tent, "Sarah said out loud to herself.

"Sarah, what took you so long!" Molly exclaimed as she saw Sarah enter the tent.

" Si, estábamos preocupados por ti! Y su ropa esta arruinado otra vez! Yes, we were worried about you! And your clothes are ruined again!" Alma exclaimed.

"Guys, calm down. I just went for a walk and tripped over a tree root. You know how clumsy I can be!" Sarah reassured.

"No, we don't know how clumsy you can be….. You're never clumsy!" exclaimed Molly.

Sarah, in the meanwhile, had been flipping through the pages of the book. Her eyes widened as she saw a page filled with doodles of hearts and of her and Will. There, in big fancy handwriting was "Most meant to be couple at Horseland: Sarah and Will."

"Que es? What is it?" Alma asked seeing Sarah's face widen in shock.

This brought Sarah into reality and she snapped the book shut and quickly tucked herself in to her sleeping bag.

"What! Where is it?" Chloe exclaimed.

"Hey, don't yell at me. I took it just in case there was gossip at the camp fire. I must have dropped on the way there or back. Chill, we'll find it" Zoey responded.

"Easy for you to say! All of our power was in that book! People could easily see our opinions and realize that it's us doing these things to Sarah and Will!" Chloe screeched.

"Hey, chill, sis. All we did so far was express our opinions and change the list, so what?" Zoey replied.

"Forget it, you're hopeless." Chloe said covering her face with a pillow.

**Sorry if this too short or too boring. And I may have made Chloe and Zoey a little bit different by accident. However, I'm just getting started with Sarah and Will. Please give your opinions, comments, or suggestions!**


	4. Misunderstandings

**Hi! Sorry this took too long. I had to deal with my finals in school. But now that it's out, I can type a lot more. I'd like to thank Taiora Freak and Okami No Kidzukare for their comments and suggestions. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland, but I do own the background characters. **

Alma often woke up early. She loved waking up to see the rising sun and hear birds chirping.

However, when she woke up, she found that it wasn't as peaceful as before. The first thing she noticed was that Sarah's sleeping bag was empty.

Alma frantically shook Molly who was sleeping next to her, "Wake up, Molly! Sarah's gone!"

"Five more minutes, Mom. It's Saturday, when we can sleep late, "Molly mumbled as she turned over to the other side and pulled her covers over her head.

Alma rolled her eyes and got up from her sleeping bag. "Hmmmm…... I wonder if I can find the book that Sarah was looking at last night. It could possibly explain her weird behavior!" Alma said out loud to herself.

Alma immediately started digging through Sarah's bags. She finally spotted it under Sarah's sleeping bag. Alma scrunched her face in disgust as she spotted the chocolate over the book "Ew…. You would think Sarah would be careful not to get chocolate all over her things!"

Alma flipped through the book, but stopped as soon as she saw red and pink markings covering a whole page. There were doodles all over the page of Sarah and Will. Alma immediately dropped the book and ran over to where Molly was sleeping.

"Molly! Molly! You've got to wake up! Tengo una gran noticia! I've got big news! I know why Sarah was acting so weird last night!" Alma yelled excitedly, shaking Molly extremely fast.

Molly, also being a gossip, woke up immediately and also started shouting "What? You do? Tell me!"

Alma shook her head, "You've got to see it to believe it." She pointed to the book that now laid on top of Alma's pillow. Molly made a frantic run for it and gasped as soon as she saw the book's contents.

"Wow, I never knew Sarah had a crush on Will. But then again, she always was watching for him." Molly exclaimed surprised. Alma nodded and Molly went on," I'm guessing that this is Sarah's diary and she gasped because she realized that she spilled chocolate all over it or that we were in the room too."

"Si, I think so too. We can confront Sarah at breakfast." Alma responded.

Sarah, in the meanwhile, had been out on a trail ride with Scarlet.

"Gee, Scarlet, who do you think that book belongs to? It could be Molly's or Zoey and Chloe's since they are all fond of gossip, but I recall that Zoey and Chloe are always flirting with Will and Molly would have recognized the book if it was hers."

Scarlet whinnied and reared up. Sarah calmed Scarlet down and continued riding in silence.

Scarlet made no noise, knowing that her rider was probably deep in thought.

Sarah looked around the campsite as she walked in from her trail ride. She quickly noticed that Bailey was not surrounded by Chloe and Zoey and that they weren't there at all.

"Probably having their "beauty sleep" or primping up for Bailey," Sarah thought.

She grabbed her breakfast and sat down next to Alma who was already there with Molly.

They appeared to be in a deep conversation as they did not notice her when she sat down.

Sarah looked across the fire and spotted Will. Will had turned around and sent her a dazzling smile. Sarah smiled back and blushed as soon as she remembered what the book had said about her and Will being meant for each other. Sarah quickly looked away and started eating her breakfast.

Alma had spotted the little moment between Will and Sarah and quickly poked Molly and pointed to them. Zoey and Chloe had spotted that too when they were walking towards the others.

"See! Our plan is working! With each set up we do, the closer they get. This will be our greatest mission ever!" Zoey whispered to Chloe, pointing in Sarah and Will's direction.

Chloe jabbed Zoey in the ribs as they approached the others, telling her to keep her mouth shut.

While Sarah had been eating, she realized something. She knew that Alma and Bailey weren't the type to pair people up, and neither was Will, but maybe he did have a crush on Sarah. It didn't explain why it was in a book or why there were doodles, but it was reasonable!

**Not exactly my best chapter, but I hoped you enjoyed it! I decided to add in crazy misunderstanding into the story. Please give your comments, opinions, or suggestions. Thanks for reading!**


	5. New Recruits

**I'd like to thank all readers for, well, reading my story. I apologize ahead of time if this is so terrible.**

Molly took a deep breath before heading back into her tent that she shared with Sarah and Alma. Inside, Alma was sitting criss-cross on the floor across from Sarah who was kneeling and had a confused look upon her face.

At Molly's arrival, both turned towards her. Molly sheepishly waved and sat criss-cross besides Alma. Alma nodded her head and spoke, "Sarah, we have something very important to discuss with you."

"You, see we found your diary and we, um, sort of, well, we read it... We know that... you, um, well…" Molly continued stammering, as if unsure of her words.

"What Molly means is that we now know about your….little crush on Will. You did a good job of hiding it, until we saw your diary." Alma chimed in.

Sarah blinked rapidly. "What? I do not have a crush on Will!" Sarah shook her head.

"I may think he's cute and nice, but I don't have a crush on him!" Sarah thought.

"Sure, Sarah; Denial isn't a river in Egypt, ya know." Molly replied immaturely.

"What hurts, though, is that you didn't tell us that you had a crush on him!" Alma said looking down disappointed.

Sarah shook her head vigorously, "That's what I'm trying to tell you, I don't have a crush on Will, or own that book; which, you by the way shouldn't have taken from me. You guys are like sisters to me, I would tell you anything, including if I had a crush on Will."

Alma looked up with a hurt look on her face, "Sarah, you couldn't even tell us the truth. Now that we know it, you're trying to lie to us? That really hurts, Sarah, we are amigas de por vida, friends for life. I'd entrust you with my life, it's too bad that you don't."

With that Alma got up and left the tent. Molly gave Sarah a sad look and followed Alma.

Sarah felt like crying, she had lost two of her best friends in one full swoop. "That's it," she decided, "I'm going to figure out the mystery once and for all and prove that I don't have a crush on Will."

Alma and Molly had been quietly saddling up Button and Calypso for a trail ride. They were so deep in their thoughts that they didn't notice Chloe and Zoey walk up to them.

"Well, if it isn't the two musketeers!" Zoey sneered.

"Yeah, but where is the third? Did she ditch you for better friends? If I were her I would have done that a long time ago." Chloe taunted.

Alma looked up with an angry look on her face. These two were really getting on her nerves.

"Nope, she just ditched us for Will, her crush." Molly piped up, thinking for one second that it was a good comeback. When she realized what she said she slapped both hands over her mouth.

"Interesting…" Chloe commented as she and Zoey shared a look of triumph. Their plan was working! All that was left was Will!

"Well, you want to know something interesting? Sarah is so secretive about it that she tried lying to us after we found out!" Alma finally exploded.

"Hmm… well maybe Chloe and I could help….. If we set her up with Will, then she would be glad that you two knew her secret and were her friends. We'll need to work together, though. And you can't tell anybody about this. Do we have a deal?" Zoey offered.

Both Alma and Molly nodded and replied, "We have a deal."

Zoey and Chloe smirked at each other.

Little did they know that a certain someone had heard the whole thing…

**I had a suggestion to team up Alma and Molly from Okami No Kidzukare. It kind of fit in with my storyline so I decided to make it happen. ( I also plan on using Taiora Freak's suggestion later on, or at least part of the suggestion) Bet you can't guess who the eavesdropper is! Please give your comments, opinions, or suggestions!**


	6. Spies and New Arrivals

**I'd like to thank WriterHorse32, Taiora Freak, and Okami No Kidzukare for reading and commenting on my story. Okami No Kidzukare, you guessed right when you assumed the eavesdropper was Bailey! I also decided to add one more eavesdropper, though. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland, but I do own the background characters.**

Bailey quickly dashed from behind the tree to find Sarah and Will. He had to warn them! He was surprised that Alma and Molly teamed up with Chloe and Zoey, and were mad at Sarah. But what was the most surprising to him was that Sarah had a crush on Will.

"I guess Mom's right… I am so dense and clueless that I can't see the obvious," Bailey muttered to himself.

Will was tending to Carrie Rehara, Rick Greene, and Krystal Parkington. Apparently Rick and Krystal were arguing and fighting again during archery, and Carrie, as hyper and upbeat as she was, took their arrows so they wouldn't be behind the rest of the group. As a result, she shot ten arrows at a time and mentally scarred a squirrel for life.

"Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one mature and responsible here, besides Sarah," Will thought to himself.

At that moment, Bailey came scrambling from the trees, frantically shouting, "Will, Will! I know something very important!"

Will rolled his eyes and waited for Bailey to reach him. "What's so important that I need to know?" he asked.

Bailey held up one finger, trying to catch his breath. When he finally spoke, a sudden ring interrupted him. Will sent Bailey an apologetic smile and answered.

"Hey, Will, is that phone water-proof?" Bailey asked. Will nodded his head and Bailey muttered underneath his breath, "Darn it! So much for splashing my water bottle on it!"

A few minutes later, after Will hung up the phone, Will gathered all of the Horseland students up at the campfire. Will noticed that Sarah sat far away from Alma and Molly, and that surprisingly Alma and Molly were giggling and whispering with Chloe and Zoey. Bailey tried sitting next to Sarah, but Krystal Parkington and Mira Kellington were already sitting on both of her sides.

Will decided to give the news now, while they all were together, and before anything crazy could happen. Walking to the center, Will cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted over the students chattering, "Alright! Listen up! Mr. and Mrs. Handler just called to inform me that tomorrow is Rebecca Simon's birthday. She wanted to spend it at Horseland, and since we are under renovation, Mr. and Mrs. Handler invited them to come camping with us instead!" He shot Bailey an apologetic look, "Sorry, Bailey, but little Rebecca wanted to see you so badly."

Bailey crossed his arms and muttered, "Being a teen idol stinks!"

At that moment, a girl with frizzy red hair and freckles flew out from the trees and tackled him, "Bailey Wailey!"

Zoey and Chloe shot each other mad and jealous looks. Zoey stood up, but was held back by Chloe."Easy, we aren't going to look good to Bailey if we tackle a client's daughter. Think of how mad that girl, her mom, and the Handlers are going to be if we did that! "Zoey nodded and reluctantly sat down.

After Bailey sat back down after being thrown on the ground by the tackle, a group of boys came out from the trees. All of them wore leather jackets, a white T-shirt underneath, and blue jeans. The one with sunglasses on top of his head and a red lollipop in his mouth came up to Will and shook his hands, "Sup? I'm Ethan Simon, and this" he gestured with his head to the rest of the boys, "is my crew." The rest of the boys looked up at Will and nodded their heads in agreement.

After Rebecca, Ethan, and his crew were all situated, Ethan demanded why they hadn't greeted him when he apparently arrived at lunch time. When Will apologized for not picking them up (he only found out ten minutes ago) Ethan nodded and told him not to let it happen again and smirked at Sarah.

**In the episode, "Bailey's New Friend", Ethan and Rebecca Simon were mentioned. I heard that Ethan and his friends were the rowdiest boys ever and would only listen to Sarah. I instantly connected that they all had a little puppy crush on Sarah. Rebecca also was fond of Bailey and was "primping all morning for Bailey". **

**The water proof cell phone came from what happened to the emergency phone during "Fire, Fire Burning Bright". I found the archery incident quite funny. It just reveals the average day of Will Taggert.**

**Please give me your comments, opinions, or suggestions!**


	7. Threats and Plans

**Hi! Before I start this next chapter, I just wanted to make things a bit clearer.**

**Rebecca Simon: 9**

**Ethan Simon and his crew: 10**

**Zoey Stilton and Molly Washington: 11**

**Chloe Stilton, Alma Rodriguez, and Bailey Handler: 12**

**Background characters: 12**

**Sarah Whitney: 13**

**Will Taggert: 14 **

**I actually don't know if this is their real age, but since Sarah was a lot more mature than the others, I decided to make her a year older. Zoey Stilton is younger than Chloe Stilton, so I made her a whole year younger. Ethan and Rebecca Simon are referred to as "little" so I made them younger than Zoey by a year or two. Hope this makes sense! **

***By the way, Will and Bailey are only tolerating Ethan and his crew because they are Horseland clients, otherwise, Will and Bailey would put them in their places!***

**Disclaimer: I do not Horseland or their characters, but I do own the background characters (NOT Jesse Golden).**

Bailey groaned in frustration. Every time he finally sat down to rest, Ethan Simon would come along and demand that he do him a "favor". So Bailey wasn't surprised when Ethan Simon came up with his crew behind him.

"Hey, Riley, do me a quick favor," Ethan demanded.

"My name's Bailey, not Riley!" Bailey quickly interrupted. You would think that he knew that Bailey's name wasn't Riley because of the humongous amount of times he had come and asked for a "favor".

"Yeah, whatever" Ethan rolled his eyes, "My little sis's birthday is today and I need you to hang out with her. Tell her that it's my present and that I'm sorry that me and my crew ain't gonna hang out with her today. We got….other pressing issues to attend to…"

"What!" Bailey's eyes flashed as he looked up angrily. "Look, just because you're a shell of a brother to get her a present, hang out with her yourself, or just plain apologize to her in person, does not mean I do it for you! I'm your host and chaperone, not your slave or towel boy!"

A big blonde boy stepped up, "Boss, you want me take care of this" cracking his knuckles in the meanwhile.

"Hold on one minute, Big" Ethan gestured for him to step back with his arm. "Now listen up, pony boy, you gonna listen up here, and you gonna listen up real good. You are gonna do what I ask of you when I ask to you!" Ethan stepped closer menacingly at each word. "Or else, me and my crew are gonna have to put the hurt on you. It would be tragic if you could never ride your little pony ever again. Wouldn't it boys?" Ethan said cracking his knuckles as his crew followed him, copying him and nodding their heads.

While that was happening, Rebecca Simon was working at the Arts and Crafts Table. "Look, girls, I made a big, gigantic heart for Bailey Wailey." She held up a big, red heart with lace on the edges. "For Bailey Wailey; With Love, Becky" was written in messy handwriting inside. Glue and paper stuck to her hands, fingers, arms, hair, and face.

Chloe, Alma, and Molly snickered, while Zoey gave Rebecca the death glare. If Rebecca noticed this, she chose to ignore this. "I'm gonna go show the other girls!" and with that she leaped out of her seat and skipped to the next table a few meters away.

After making sure that Rebecca was no longer in hearing distance, Chloe jabbed Zoey in the ribs. "Ow, what was that for?" Zoey complained. "That, was for being so rude to little Rebecca on her own birthday. There is NO way that she could get Bailey, so quit the vicious lion act." Chloe replied, holding her head up high as if she was proud that she already knew that Rebecca had no chance with Bailey.

"Well, you never know. What if she got him by some freak force of nature?" Zoey questioned.

"You guys should stop arguing!" Alma cut in.

"Yeah, what are we gonna do next for the set up?" Molly asked curiously.

Zoey and Chloe leaned closer and Molly and Alma leaned closer out of curiosity as well.

"We were going to…."

"And then …."

"Would that work?"  
"No, way! That's impossible!"

"No, it would seriously work, all we need is teamwork."

Sarah quietly worked on her oil pastel drawing. On there was the beautiful lake that she had spotted not too far away from the campsite with her on the far banks. She hadn't finished yet, but soon will be.

She was in the middle of drawing the foundation for another person when little Rebecca bounced up to them with a big, sticky, red heart.

"Look what I made for Bailey Wailey!" she shouted happily. The other girls threw looks at each other. Why was this girl so obsessed with Bailey?

Finally Carrie spoke up, "It looks great…. But... no, I shouldn't say it." Carrie ended her sentence by shaking her head.

"What? What shouldn't you say?" Rebecca asked, curiosity sparking her eyes.

"Well….. Bailey isn't exactly fond of laces," Carrie confessed.

Rebecca blinked in surprise, and then quickly snatched a pair of red scissors from the table. She quickly cut the lace off the edge and ran off shouting, "Thanks, Carrie!"

"Why did you do that?" Krystal asked cocking her head in Rebecca's direction.

Carrie scowled, an annoyed look crossed her face "That girl just gets on my nerves! Did you see how much of the art supplies she used for one heart? She's so obsessed and hyper, I just can't stand her!"

Krystal just rolled her emerald eyes and tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulders in response.

Sarah finally laughed after the fight with Molly and Alma.

**Sorry if this chapter was a bit short or boring. I just wanted to include my background characters a bit more. Will wasn't exactly in this chapter, but this was just a short chapter with cliff hangers and stuff. Pay attention to every detail! You never know what just may be used for the next chapter or for the rest of the story!**

**Please give your comments, opinions, or suggestions!**


	8. Rebecca's Dance

**Hey! I got some reviews asking me to go on, so here it is! I actually don't know how long my story will be. In this chapter, you will find out PART of Chloe and Zoey's plan from the last chapter. Sarah's drawing will play a big part in the next chapter as well. In addition, my background characters are mentioned and used more.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Horseland, and probably never will. I do own these background characters and the plot.  
**

Chloe rolled her eyes. Her little sister, Zoey, could be such a nag sometimes. She absolutely refused to go through with the plan. "Figures," Chloe thought, "that Zoey could be so proud and vain that she refuses to talk to Rebecca."

"Come on, Zoey. Just talk to Rebecca; you do want Sarah and Will to end up together? Don't you?" Chloe coaxed once more**.**

"I don't know, Chloe. What if she actually gets Bailey to do with her?" Zoey worried.

"She won't. And there will be no freak force of nature that will help Rebecca!" Chloe snapped in frustration.

Just then, the other two operatives of "Operation Stilton's Setup" came in the tent.

"Rebecca's outside and ready to be talked to!" Molly shouted happily.

Alma nodded her head. "Si; and you better get outside quick, before she gets distracted or bored and runs off again."

Zoey shot her sister a desperate look, as if to say "Come on sis, think about all the good times we had. I don't want to go through with this…"

Chloe shook her head. "Come on, Zoey. Rebecca looks up to you; you're her role model. Just. Do. It. "

Zoey frowned, and then sighed. "Wish me luck," she finally whispered.

When Zoey walked out of her tent, she saw a frizzy red headed nine year- old fidgeting on the ground. Zoey walked over to her slowly; regretting every step taken.

"Hey, Rebecca." Zoey finally managed to speak. Rebecca looked up. She had freckles all over her cheeks. "In a way," Zoey realized, " she looks like me. Well, except for her unkempt hair, straight figure, and horrible posture."

"So I heard that it's your birthday today, I thought that maybe we could really celebrate tonight." Zoey continued. Rebecca nodded her head slowly, unsure of where this was going.

Zoey shot her one of her famous grins that usually got her some BFF's from private school.

"You can ask Will if we can have a dancing party tonight to celebrate. A girl has to feel special sometime during her birthday, you know."

Rebecca blinked. "But nobody is prepared to have a party."

Zoey replied, "Nobody was ready for your arrival either, but we all have to deal with it and prepare."

Rebecca nodded her head for a couple of minutes, deep in thought. Finally, she spoke, "I'll go ask Will for a party! Maybe it could be one of those dances that cowboys had in the Wild West!"

Zoey scrunched her face up in disgust, "Ew, no way! I was thinking about a party where people wear clothes that they would wear to prom."

Rebecca nodded her head once more, "That's an even better idea, but Will is more likely to agree if it's a Wild West party."

"Hmmm…" Zoey thought, "I never thought of that, but if we do Wild West, it ruins the whole entire plan!"

"Yes, but it's your birthday, you should be able to choose which one you want more." Zoey argued.

When Rebecca didn't answer, Zoey knew what she had to do….. Man, she would dread this…

"If it's prom, then it's more likely that you can slow dance with Bailey." Zoey finally added, gritting her teeth in the meanwhile.

Rebecca's expression brightened and she ran off.

Putting her hands on her hips, and watching Rebecca run off to find Will, Zoey smirked,

"That was easier than taking candy from a baby!"

Carrie ran around her shared tent in a hurry. She had just heard from Lana and Mara that they were holding a dance in Rebecca's honor. She quickly volunteered lending some clothes and sewing clothes for the other unprepared Horseland riders. In addition to that, she had to supply the music. "It's a good thing I brought my iPod, speaker system, and transportable keyboard." Carrie muttered to herself.

"Pray tell, why is that a good thing? That would have been awfully heavy for Sunshine," Krystal asked curiously, mentioning Carrie's horse.

Carrie didn't respond at first. After finally fishing out a big bag from the bottom of a large pile, she spoke, "Do you think that these dresses will be enough for all of us?"

"We are having a what, when now?" Sarah asked confused. When Sarah got back from a completely quiet trail ride with Scarlet, Chloe and Zoey had greeted her in her tent.

Chloe sighed, "We are having a prom in Rebecca's honor. Annoying don't you think?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow, "Wait a minute, you guys love dances and chances to show off your designer clothes!"

Zoey rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but unfortunately the other idiots were ill prepared. Chloe and I are in charge of supplying you, Alma, and Molly our designer clothes. Carrie has enough clothing to supply the other girls and Molly and Carrie are going to sew clothes for the boys."

Chloe smiled, "Prepare to look the most fabulous in your whole entire life!"

Sarah widened her eyes in shock. "What did I get myself into?" She thought miserably, remembering Alma's "fabulous" makeover.

**Sorry, if this chapter was short as well! Will isn't really in this one either, but the next one will revolve all around him! P.S. As a little heads up, Bailey will be… well, a little bruised from the last chapter.**

**Please give me your opinions, comments, and suggestions!**


	9. Makeovers and Last Preparations

**Hello! I got different answers for my poll; I have already decided what I am going to do, but I won't tell you, because it would ruin the whole suspense thing. I'd like to thank all my readers, viewers, and participants of my poll.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland, but I do own this plot and the background characters.**

A figure slipped into Sarah's tent, undetected so far. At that moment, Zoey and Chloe were washing Sarah's hair in a bowl of water. Smirking to herself, she reached into Sarah's bag.

When she finally found the object she was looking for, she grabbed a case with it and tiptoed out of the tent…..

Sarah was definitely regretting ever coming back into her tent. Zoey and Chloe refused to let her leave or see herself in the mirror. "Maybe this is some prank to make me look like a freak?" Sarah thought.

Zoey left the tent for awhile, but then came back with a big, bulgy make up bag. Fumbling a bit, Zoey took a tube of lipstick. Sarah widened her eyes. Zoey took off the top and started advancing forward towards Sarah. Chloe squeezed water out of Sarah's hair and emptied the bowl. She took nail polish out of the make up bag and started applying it to Sarah's nails.

"So Sarah," Chloe started, "What's going on between you and Will?"

"What? There is NOTHING going on between me and Will! He and I are just friends, and nothing more!" Sarah angrily sputtered.

"Yeah, and pigs can fly!" Zoey scoffed.

"That's it! I am leaving!" Sarah shouted as she tried to stand up and walk out.

Surprisingly, Zoey and Chloe were able to keep Sarah down.

"Oh, no you don't! Not until we finish your makeover or at least until your nails dry!" Chloe yelled.

Will, in the meanwhile, had been preparing for the party as well. He sent Lana Powers, Mara Fralla, Mira Kellington, and Rena Uyshi to cook the food. Rebecca had insisted on "pretty lights and streamers"; Will had decided that a campfire and a full moon's light were pretty enough and sent Jesse Golden, Lindsay Yanette, Jack Totters, Krystal Parkington, and Rick Greene to decorate, work out how large the dance floor was going to be, and set up the refreshments' table and some chairs. Kristin Anderson was running around and checking up on people.

Eventually, Kristin came to him and persisted that he go and get ready while she dressed up the horses. As Will walked into his own tent (he was the oldest and in charge. In addition, Bailey snored), he spotted a piece of paper stuck in the middle of a big fat book. Curious, he walked over and picked it up. He was about to open it to the page where the paper was, when Bailey walked in with his hands jammed in his pockets whistling.

"Hey cousin!" Bailey said nodding his head.

Will raised his eyebrow, "Is there something wrong, Bailey?"

"Nothing's wrong; is there anything wrong with hanging with your cousin instead of 10 year olds?" Bailey responded.

"So that's what you're doing. Bailey, you won't be able to dodge Rebecca's Spotlight Dance. Ethan Simon is going to dance with his sister, and then you have to dance with her next." Will shook his head.

"Yeah, but I don't see why it has to be a slow dance," Bailey grumbled. With that, Bailey walked out with his head hanging down.

Checking to see if Bailey or anyone else was outside his tent, Will stuck his head out. Once he finished carefully checking, he went back in and opened the book. He took out the paper first and looked at it carefully.

The picture on the paper was well drawn and very high detailed. He recognized the lake as the one nearby the campsite. Two figures on the far banks seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't recognize them.

Turning to the book, Will carefully put the drawing down. He then picked up the book and read its contents.

The horses were all tied up to one long tree branch. Kristin, Beauty's owner, had come by and dressed them all up in costumes of some sort.

"Man, I hate this! Talk about looking like a clown!" Aztec complained as he tried to buck off his hat.

"Oh, please; like you would ever appreciate fashion." Pepper neighed, holding her head up high.

"You know, I kinda like dis clothes!" Calypso chirped.

"Yeah, the black barrettes make me feel special." Button agreed.

"Yeah? Well I don't. I feel like a clown!" Aztec yelled.

"Yah, know I kinda like this hat." Jimber interrupted, with his eyes trying to completely see his cowboy hat.

Aztec looked worried, "Oh no! Not you too, Jimber!"

Beauty spoke up, "Aztec, being beautiful feels weird at first to wild horses like you."

Sunshine looked confused, "But I thought Aztec was just free spirited, not just from the wild."

Shadow rolled her eyes, "That's exactly what she meant, Sunshine."

Sarah shuffled her feet nervously. After doing her hair, nails, and make up, Zoey and Chloe had given her a sparkly strapless red dress and black- gold flats for her to wear. They had gone outside to give her room to change and had taken all the reflective surfaces with them. They warned her that they were surrounding the tent, so escape was futile.

Taking a deep breath, and hoping that nobody else was outside or had a camera, she walked out the tent. When Zoey and Chloe turned to look at her, they gasped and then clapped their hands.

"Sarah, you look fabulous!" Zoey complimented.

"You'll be the prettiest besides me and Zoey!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Sarah replied, unsure if this was an act to falsely lead her into believing that they actually gave her a decent makeover.

"Now all we need to do is accessorize!" Chloe chimed excitedly.

"You go on ahead. I'm going to go get ready myself." Zoey shooed them back into the tent.

When she was sure that Sarah was preoccupied, she called out to two figures, "Did Will get our little enlightenment gift?"

**I hope this chapter clears up some questions. In case you didn't know, the drawing is the one mentioned in "Threats and Plans". I warned you that the drawing plays a key role! Chloe and Zoey are actually kind of nice in this chapter, but that's only when it comes to making "ugly, common people" to "gorgeous, talented people". They were doing it to convince Sarah to stay, to squeeze gossip out of her, and because they generally love giving makeovers. Poor Bailey has to slow dance with Rebecca (turned 10); let's hope that Rebecca doesn't step on his feet! **

**I kind of included the horses in the story. My background characters were just doing jobs, so they weren't that much fun.**

**Please give your comments, opinions, or suggestions!**


	10. Moonlight Dance part 1

**Hi! I just wanted to clear up a few things. Zoey and Chloe own a Slam Book that contains a section called "Couples of Horseland". Zoey misplaced it and Sarah found it. Alma and Molly found it and read it, but did not take it from Sarah yet. After teaming up with Zoey and Chloe, they give it to Will. However, Chloe and Zoey do not know that (They are only aware of Sarah's drawing, which was altered by the four)**

**Sorry for taking so long, but I was kinda stumped for awhile, and our house being under renovation didn't really help. Will's new voice in the episodes, definitely set me off track. His voice went from a country teen's to a gruff woodsman's. Bailey's changed too. He no longer sounds like Justin Bieber.**

**Thanks to my readers! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland; I do own background characters and plot.**

* * *

Ethan tapped his foot impatiently. What was taking Bailey so long? Bailey had agreed to come and spy for him.

Big stepped up, "Want me to look for the little twit?" (Ha-ha. Bailey's older and taller)

"No, when he comes, he comes. If he's a no show, then we look for him." Ethan shook his head.

Big merely grunted in response to his leader's answer.

Bailey soon rushed in.

"What took you so long?"Ethan demanded.

"I'm sorry; I had to talk to Will." Bailey explained with a lack of sincerity.

"Well?" Ethan demanded once more.

"Like you and I saw the other day, Chloe, Zoey, Molly, and Alma have teamed up to match make Sarah and Will. Will appears to express no feelings besides brotherly love towards Sarah." Bailey reported. None of the boys saw that he crossed his fingers near the end.

"Excellent," Ethan nodded, "You may leave now."

Bailey immediately ran out of the tent.

"Boss," Big spoke up, "If you change your mind about Sarah… Can I have her?"

"Sure thing, Big, sure thing; but I won't" Ethan replied.

(Creepy, right? Boys who are 3 years younger are out to get you.)

* * *

Sarah sighed, bored as she shifted weight from her legs. Chloe was still going on about how pretty all three of them were going to look. She'd stop herself once in awhile to go on about the accessories she had that would match Sarah's outfit.

"Gee, they're acting awfully nice about this." Sarah thought, "But there must be a higher motive for this…."

Zoey rushed into the tent. "Chloe, I found our book!"

Chloe immediately dropped all the jewelry she was holding and pushed Sarah out of the tent. "Nice seeing you, bye!"

"But…." Sarah tried to protest.

"No, buts!" Chloe said quickly.

Zoey and Chloe quickly zipped up the door behind Sarah.

Sarah blinked confused. "Isn't that _**my**_ tent?"

* * *

Inside, Zoey was angrily pacing back and forth.

"So…sis…. Where is it?" Chloe asked awkwardly. Her sister was barely this angry. Well, unless someone was taking Bailey or the last Gucci handbags.

"Our own teammates are…are….are…" Zoey spat out, "traitors!"

"How?" Chloe asked.

"**They **had our Slam book. Then, they gave it to Will with Sarah's drawing we decided to alter!"

Chloe finally understood, "Oh! Those miserable rats are going to pay!"

Zoey nodded, "Starting with humiliation!"

* * *

After Zoey and Chloe left her tent, Sarah walked back in. Glancing at her watch, Sarah thought, "Well, they're going to be late if they prepare themselves the same way they prepared me. I still have enough time, though, to finish up on the drawing I was making for Mom."

However, after searching everywhere in her tent, Sarah couldn't find it; she couldn't find her art case either.

"Oh no, that was for Mom's birthday!" Sarah wailed.

* * *

She bolted out of the tent to look for it.

Molly was sewing as fast as she could, but she also had to be careful and make sure the result was stylish. Before long, Molly found herself wincing. Not because she hurt herself with a needle, but because Rick, Krystal, and Alma were complaining a bit too much about dressing up. Rick despised anything you couldn't run in, Krystal felt the same, but hated dresses and skirts, and Alma was just naturally a tomboy.

"What's with the dance? I mean who cares about this Rebecca?" Rick complained.

"Hey, at least you don't have to wear a dress!" Krystal moaned.

"I'm lucky Alejandro isn't here; he'd call me a big phony!" Alma cried out.

Molly just threw her a look that seemed to say, "You're all being big, fat phonies right now. Stop the complaining!"

* * *

Sarah ran from tree to tree, looking for the drawing that she worked so hard on. She constantly eyed the sky to see if the wind was blowing it up. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice a tree root sticking out of the ground until she tripped over it. Sarah shut her eyes, preparing for the pain and mess of the fall, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she expected to see the ground; instead, a boy with brown hair and blue eyes was there holding her from the ground.

"Gee, cuz, you sure are heavy!" the boy joked.

Realizing who it was, Sarah turned around and squeezed the boy into a big hug.

"Chase! I don't believe it! Is it really you? You're so full of surprises!" Sarah shouted happily.

"Can't b-br-breathe!" Chase kiddingly acted.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked once she let go.

"After the last visit, I decided to come to Horseland again. I wanted to surprise ALL of Horseland though. When I came, I found out that Horseland was closed due to renovation. One of the builders told me where all of the students went though. Where's Chloe?" Chase replied.

Sarah smiled. "Everyone will be happy to know that you're here!"

As they were walking, they talked about their horses and how people they both knew were doing.

"So... How's Cousin Mary?" Sarah inquired.

"Still blind and peppy, but she's having fun racing at top speed with Prince. By the way, you seemed to train Prince really well." Chase answered.

"So….ummm….how's Chloe doing?" Chase stammered.

Sarah eyed Chase suspiciously, "She's fine. Why do you ask?"

"N-no reason at all…" Chase trailed off at the end.

Sarah smiled, "You like Chloe! Even after you said that she was conniving girl!"

Chase frowned, "No, I don't. Besides, she likes Bailey, remember? And if we want to stay on the topic of crushes, then why don't we discuss the one you have on Will?" Chase grinned like a Cheshire cat at the end.

Sarah frowned and playfully pushed him away, "I don't have a crush on Will! Why does everyone keep claiming that?"

"I don't know, cuz, maybe because it's true?" Chase playfully suggested with a tap on his head.

"Shut up!" She laughed as she shoved him playfully once more.

* * *

Chloe grinned in front of her powder mirror. She looked fabulous!

"Hurry up with the mirror! I want to see what I look like too!" Zoey whined.

Chloe groaned and shoved the mirror into her sister's hands reluctantly.

Chloe walked over to the accessory box and made sure that she had grabbed the right accessories for her outfit.

Once she finished, she walked out of the tent, calling over her shoulder, "I'm going to over to the campfire now. The party has already started."

"Wait!" Zoey called out, scrambling to finish then.

However, Chloe ignored her as she continued walking to the campfire, which was a few meters away.

When she arrived, a few people stopped what they were doing to look at her for a moment. "Just one bittersweet moment from the dance in return for all my hard work." Chloe thought sadly. What happened to all the attention she used to get? Why wasn't she complimented yet?

"Looking good, Zoey." She heard a male voice say.

"Thank you, but I'm Chloe" she found herself responding. She knew perfectly well that her sister would make a huge entrance when she arrived, and so far, that hasn't heard anything from her yet. But why was that voice so familiar?

She turned towards the voice, hoping like crazy that it was Bailey. Though she didn't expect him to compliment her or forget her name. But instead of Bailey, it was Chase.

Chloe blinked her eyes in shock, "Chase! What are you doing here?"

Chase grinned, "Couldn't miss another Horseland party now, can I?"

"Sarah invited you without telling us?"

"Nope! I just showed up myself." Chase shrugged.

"How rude of you! You can't show up unexpected to a PRIVATE party!" Chloe found herself shouting.

"Well, I didn't exactly know you were having a party. I just thought you were camping." Chase rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Chloe's face softened, "Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to yell." Somewhere along that sentence, Chloe's face adopted a scarlet blush.

Chase smiled, "Well, Nani and I are sure glad we came on the day of the party. Everyone seems a bit psyched about it. I saw Sarah all dressed up a few minutes ago. She hardly ever does that."

Chloe nodded, "Yeah, Zoey and I decided to help her dress up for Will."

"Wait, Nani? As in he brought Nani here?" Chloe thought, reflecting on Chase's previous words. Chloe felt extreme jealously rise up in her.

"Look! There she is now!" Chase pointed excitedly.

Chloe frowned. She heard "Ooh's" and "Ahh's" from the crowd, which meant that Nani was dressed up prettier than she was.

"Ya know, it was pretty nice of you to dress Sarah up. Maybe it'll give her the courage to move up in her relationship with Will." Chase said after Chloe didn't respond.

Chloe finally looked towards the commotion and saw Sarah being complimented by everyone. Chloe smiled. Their plan was working!

"And maybe Nani isn't prettier than me!" Chloe thought happily.

* * *

Bailey stepped into Will's tent. He needed Will's advice more than ever now.

"Hey Will." Bailey greeted.

Will looked up from what he was reading and smiled.

"So…um….. I was wondering if you could give me any piece of advice before I…" Bailey stammered, "d-dance with –re-re- Rebecca."

Will's smile grew bigger, "Are you starting to like Rebecca?"

Bailey frowned, "No, I was wondering if you tell me how to dance before I make a fool out of myself in front of Nani."

Will frowned, "Wait, so Nani is here?"

Bailey nodded, "Best thing that happened during this trip, well besides when Rebecca leaves."

Will stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Will, now's the time to give cousinly advice or remind me what Grandpa used to say." Bailey cleared his throat to get rid of the silence.

Will nodded, "Remember how Grandpa used to say that to charm someone, you had to be yourself? Well, your dancing skills are part of you, so if you want to impress people, just dance your best, I guess."

Bailey blinked his eyes then grumbled, "Man, you're no fun. You could have fooled me if you said you were my great-great-great- grandfather."

Will looked down at the book in his hands "Bailey," he said softly, "If a really good friend of yours liked you…well, more than a friend… what would you do?"

Bailey's mouth dropped open. Was Will possibly interested?

Bailey quickly recovered though, "Well, I'd pretend everything's normal, I mean how do you even know if it's true?"

Will looked Bailey in the eyes, "What if you did know for sure?"

Bailey squirmed. Man, Will was making his mission hard!

"Well, I'd….um… Tell them my true feelings for them…I guess."

Will nodded, "Thanks Bailey, I kinda needed that."

Bailey put a reassuring hand on Will's shoulder, "Will, we're family. We're practically brothers. This is the least I can do for all the times you were there for me."

* * *

**Sorry, but I'm gonna cut it off right there. Just to be clear, Nani appears in most of the episodes in the third season. At first, Zoey saw her as competition because Nani was nice, pretty, and talented. (Bailey also showed a lot of interest in her) As for Chase, he appears in the first episode of the third season. He was dyslexic, and refused to read the show manual. He kept confusing Chloe and Zoey up, and they got irritated at him. At the end, Chloe begs for him to come back when he threatens to leave. After a successful show, Chloe and Chase high-five each other, proving to be closer. So I kinda paired them up. **

**Will is always giving Bailey advice, so I decided to let Bailey take the job for once. **

**Alejandro (Alexander) was Alma's pen pal, who seems to like her romantically.**

**Please give me your comments, suggestions, or opinions!**


	11. Moonlight Dance part 2

**Hey! I'd like to thank all my readers for reading this story and encouraging me to go on. I'm extremely sorry it took me so long to update. I've been busy with school and my illness (that I assure you I'm completely over) Writer's Block.**

_Italics= flashbacks_

**I hope you enjoy this! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland, but I do own the background characters and plot line. **

Nani smiled to herself. She was wearing a beautiful yellow spaghetti strap dress that had been her grandmother's at one time. Nani giggled. It was such a coincidence that she ran into Chase and that she had packed this dress on the one camping trip that they had a party.

_Nani raced back to Horseland on Sunburst. They were riding the way that Sunburst preferred, which was bareback. Nani found that she was just bursting with excitement. She didn't have to visit her sick grandmother after all! Her mother had told her as soon as she arrived that her grandmother was better. _

_With a tug on the reins, Sunburst's speed increased. "C'mon, we're almost there!" Nani chanted to herself. However, Sunburst suddenly reined. "Whoa, easy Sunburst; it's okay." Nani soothed. After Sunburst calmed down, Nani looked at what spooked Sunburst. There were bulldozers and tractors everywhere! "Oh no!" Nani had thought. "Horseland can't possibly be closed! Not now!"_

_Then she had heard a light chuckle from behind her. Turning around, she had seen a brunette boy with blue eyes and a large smile gracing his lips. His mount was a dark bay Anglo-Arabian Stallion with green highlights in his mane._

"_Hey, I'm Chase, and this is my horse, Wonder," the boy had proudly introduced._

_Nani nodded, "Well, he is wonderful."_(That was Chloe's line in the episode Chase was in)

_Chase's grin split wide open "Thanks!"_

_Nani looked around, "Where is everybody?"_

_Chase smiled, "My cousin, Sarah, and everybody else went on a camping trip, or so a builder told me."_

_Nani blinked, "YOU'RE Sarah's cousin?"_

_Chase nodded, "Yup. I was planning on surprising ALL of Horseland with a visit, but I guess they surprised me with a sudden renovation."_

_Nani laughed. "Yeah, surprises can backfire sometimes."_

_Chase smiled, "I know where they went, though. It seems that I'm not the only one who wants to see them. Do you want come with me?" Then he blinked, "I'm sorry, but I still don't know your name."_

_Nani nodded, "My name's Nani, and my horse's name is Sunburst. It would be my pleasure to ride with you to the campsite. It's a good thing I have things packed!"_

_Chase faked a pout, "I brought horse racing on the wii for this trip! Now I can't use it!"_

"Silly old Chase" Nani thought. On the ride there they had bonded. Chase had admitted that he liked Chloe and Nani mentioned that she had a slight interest in Bailey, which explained why she wasn't exactly too eager to see the jealous Zoey. Stepping out of her own tent, she walked to the party. "Wow, everyone looks amazing!" She whispered to herself.

"What are you doing here, Indian girl?" someone had said nastily.

Nani whipped around, "Hey Zoey, it's nice to see you."

"Oh, and I'm Native American, not Indian." She added.

"Whatever!" Zoey had rolled her eyes and walked away.

Nani walked up to where Chase and Chloe were talking alone. Seeing this she winked to Chase.

"What are you doing here, Nani?" Chloe said harshly.

Nani flinched. She had been expecting that from Chloe's sister, not her.

When Nani walked over to where she and Chase were and winked to Chase, she couldn't help but feel angry at Nani. So when she finally reached them, she didn't hold back when she asked her what she was doing here. Seeing Nani flinch, made her even angrier

"How dare she think for one moment that I would be happy to see her, or even bow down to her?" Chloe thought.

Nani spoke softly, "Didn't Chase tell you that I came with him?"

"Urgh, now she must think that she and Chase are an item." Chloe groaned in her head.

"No!" Chloe snapped, hoping to make Nani sad enough to walk away. "Maybe," Chloe thought maliciously, "If I convince her that Chase doesn't care about her, then she'll back off!"

Chase cleared his throat to get rid of the tension, "Does anyone want a drink?"

Chloe snapped her head towards him, "Yes, please; fruit punch is my favorite."

Nani looked towards him sweetly, "No thanks, when I'm thirsty, I can get it myself."

When Chase walked away to get the drinks, Nani lightly whispered, "Trust me, I'm not you're enemy." Then she walked away.

Chase impatiently waited for Carrie to get her drinks from the drink table. While Chase was getting two fruit punches, Nani stepped up from behind him.

"Hey Nani." Chase mumbled.

Nani smiled, "Congratulations, Chase. Chloe is totally into you."

Chase raised an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?"

Nani laughed, "Oh, please. Like you didn't notice how hostile she got when I came up to you."

"She's jealous." Nani added, just in case he didn't get it.

Chase slapped his hand to his forehead, "Yeah, I know. But probably because she considers you competition for Bailey."

"No," Nani shook her head, "She's jealous of me because of you. She thinks that something is going on between you and me because we arrived here together."

Chase shook his head, "Me and you? Together? That's just plain ridiculous!"

Nani laughed, "I know, you're like my goofy older brother."

Chase joined in on laughing, "You're like Sacagawea, and I'm either Lewis or Clark,"

Zoey glared at Nani from a distance. "How dare she! Nani tries to steal Bailey AND Chase from the Stiltons! I'll teach her not to mess with us!" She thought rather viciously.

Zoey watched the nasty display between Nani and Chase as they laughed together. Turning, Zoey saw her older sister glaring at them as well.

Walking up to her sister, Zoey whispered softly, "Nani has to be taken down. There are no better people for the job than us."

Chloe glanced at the laughing duo before nodding her head.

Sarah looked all around her. Everyone was having a spectacular time. Molly was happily dancing with Jesse, Chase and Nani were apparently having a hilarious conversation, Bailey was dancing with Alma, Chloe and Zoey were whispering what was probably the latest gossip to each other, and even Rick and Krystal were dancing together.

"Everyone is having a great time, except for me and Will." Sarah thought, "Speaking of which where is he?"

Chase, in the meanwhile, had walked up to Sarah.

"Hey, cuz, how are you doing?" Chase asked.

Sarah shrugged, "Okay, I guess. I could be better."

Chase grinned, "Are you waiting for Will to ask you to a slow dance?"

Sarah blushed as red as her dress," No!"

Chase winked, "Don't worry; when he asks you, I'll be sure to request a super slow song just for you!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Sarah sputtered.

Chase leaned in to her ear, "Watch me." He turned to leave, but Sarah quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. Chase gave her a concerned look.

"Chase, if-if you found out that somebody who's just a really good friend liked you more than that, what would you do?" Sarah finally whispered softly.

Chase's face turned extremely serious, "Sarah, tell Will what you truly feel if you're sure that's how he feels."

Sarah's face turned to one of shock, "What- Wait, how did you know that I was talking about Will?"

Chase rolled his eyes, "I may be dyslexic, but I'm not blind ya know."

"Cousin Mary already saw this coming, and she's blind." Chase added.

**I may have put a few characters, well out of character. Especially Zoey. She apparently made up with Nani in the episodes, but perhaps Nani's interest in Bailey sparked up the rivalry again. Please give your comments, suggestions, or opinions!**


	12. Moonlight Dance part 3

**I apologize for the lateness of this update, but I hope the length makes up for it! I'm not going to really tell you the outcome of the poll; let's just say, though, that the only definite pairings are, of course, Sarah and Will (I know that at the rate of the story, it seems so long and far away). Note that the dance will NOT be the climax, therefore, there is a LOT more to come…..**

**I'd also like to thank those of you who took the poll, and, of course, all my readers (Do I even have any left?) for encouraging me to continue.**

_Italics= flashbacks/lyrics/deep, inner thoughts_

**Enjoy! P.S. When it comes to the lyrics, do not skip the whole thing because there WILL be part of the story between lines.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland or any of the lyrics to the songs used in this chapter, but I do own the background characters and plot line.**

* * *

Alma thoughtfully looked around. Something was amiss. She didn't know what, but she did know that something was going to go wrong soon.

As she turned, her gaze landed on Molly and Jesse dancing. Alma felt very happy for Molly; after all, she was majorly crushing on the "hot" Jesse.

"_Alma, don't you think that it's weird that Zoey and Chloe are just ignoring us, even though we're on the same team?" Molly asked suspiciously._

_Alma shrugged, "Or maybe they're just into the latest gossip or something. They could be pretending to be the silent type to impress Bailey for all we know."_

_Molly nodded, "Maybe, but you never know."_

_After awhile, Molly started fidgeting and poking Alma._

"_Santo cielo! What is it? Alma finally snapped. _

"_Jesse's coming over here! Oooh, I hope he's coming over to talk to us! I'd be so disappointed if he didn't…I mean it's not like all the time I spent on my dress was for him….but it'd be so worth the toil if he notices me…" Molly blabbered nervously. _

"_Be assertive! Go ask HIM to dance." Alma advised._

"_I-I can't h-he's out of my league!" Molly stammered._

_Just then, Jesse approached them. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck, "Hey."_

"_Oh-umm-umm…" Molly seemed at a loss for words, "Hi!"_

_Jesse turned a shade of scarlet, "So….ummm- do you maybe want to-"_

"_Yes!" Molly immediately interrupted._

_Jesse smiled, "Great….so….let's dance….."_

_The two of them headed out to the dance floor, gently swaying to the music. When Jesse was distracted, Molly excitedly gave Alma the thumbs- up._

"Hey, Alma."

Alma twisted to the source of her caller. It was Bailey. "Goodness, Bailey, you almost gave me a heart attack there!"

Bailey chuckled, "Well, we wouldn't want that now would we?"

"Of course not," Alma playfully shoved him, "Who else would put you in your place when it comes to racing?"

Bailey and Alma both laughed before Bailey turned serious. "Alma, would you like to dance?"

Shock overcame Alma. Where had that came from? She cautiously glanced around for Zoey and Rebecca. Zoey was nowhere in sight and Rebecca was preoccupied with the snack table.

"Okay," Alma relented, "But don't think this means anything!"

"'Course not." Bailey replied, "This is just a friendly dance between friends."

They walked over to the dance floor and put themselves in position. Alma thought that it might be awkward, dancing with someone that she practically grew up with, but, to her surprise, their dance mirrored their relationship: Comfortability with a blatantly obvious platonic friendship.

In the middle of the song, Bailey started moving them towards the other side. Alma practically stumbled after him in an attempt to avoid being dragged across.

"¿Qué diablos estás haciendo? I can barely catch up to you!" Alma hissed angrily. She was looking like a complete fool; not to mention, they were making a scene.

"I have to get away from Rebecca." Bailey murmured, still on the move.

"Why would you have to do that? You're already dancing with me now and then her later." Alma simply couldn't understand his reasoning.

"She could cut in at any time. And you're not going to exactly flat out deny her that, are you?" Bailey retorted, glancing over his shoulder to see if he lost Rebecca yet.

Alma rolled her eyes but deep down agreed. "If only this camping trip wasn't so insane," Alma thought, "then we could be doing what we normally do; sitting around the campfire eating marshmallows to Will's spine chilling yet hilarious stories with no spoiled clients ruining it."

* * *

Will readjusted his red tie. Again. In truth, he was more nervous than his first real horse race. And even then, he wasn't THAT anxious. Looking over at himself in the mirror, Will couldn't help but wonder how it all came down to this. What happened to that special friendship that they once shared?

"I wonder what she's doing right now….." Will contemplated. Was she prepping up for the dance with him in mind?

Will blanked out. What if she was planning on telling him her feelings for him tonight in the moonlight by the lake? If so, was the book and drawing hinting her feelings for him and where she intended on meeting him?

"Enough!" Will told himself. He was starting to go insane from all these what if's running through his mind. Honestly, he was probably only fretting over this because of the stress of pleasing little Rebecca. Not to mention, he had taken a vow to himself to NEVER repeat the last camping trip in which Chloe and Zoey had set a whole camping site on fire.

"Being the oldest and in charge has its perks at times, but" Will thought, "It can also be stressful and ruin your social life."

From his tent, Will could hear the loud, upbeat music blaring through the speakers.

Well it was now or never…...

* * *

Bailey was quite sure that he saw Rebecca over Alma's shoulder as he waltzed past Carrie's DJ station for the tenth time. "Remind me to never tick Carrie off," Bailey groaned to himself.

"_Hey Carrie!" Bailey was going around, starting conversations with everybody as to not seem perfectly available for Rebecca to hang around with….which he actually was…._

"_Huh?" Carrie tossed her dark brown braid over her shoulder as she straightened up. Carrie was currently bent over all her CD albums, picking the playlist. So far, she was having SERIOUS problems with picking slow songs._

"_Watcha doing?"Bailey always felt that he could be childish and immature around Carrie; mainly because she was the queen of that herself. Around Will, he had to be a lot mature than he usually was. _

_Carrie shrugged, "Picking out songs. The slow songs are deciding to give me issues."_

"_Like any one wants to slow dance," Carrie scoffed, "It's all about the beat; and a beat's not supposed to make your limbs fall asleep." Geez, Carrie loved rhyming….._

_Bailey agreed with her on that one, but Ethan probably wasn't going to be satisfied with that; if Rebecca didn't get her special dance with Bailey, Horseland might as well close down, what with Rebecca and Ethan's family being a very high paying client._

"_Not true" Bailey cut in, "Rebecca does"_

"_Oh, and by the way, thanks for telling Rebecca that I don't like lace, " Bailey added, "Rebecca went up to me and rambled on about her not liking lace TOO."_

_Carrie giggled in response._

"_Anyway," Bailey rolled his eyes, "Of course YOU are having problems with picking slow songs; you're just too impatient!"_

"_Oh, really?" Carrie completely changed in that moment, no longer cheery and playful._

"_Well, you are really loud, and slow songs are usually soft and stuff." Bailey went on, not really aware of how much he might regret those words later in the night._

_Carrie's hands landed on her hips in an almost indignant fashion, "Oh, I am, am I?" Her nose crinkled and her eyebrows slanted down into a frown._

_Bailey took a moment to really look at Carrie. The only thing pertaining to the old Carrie was that she was similar to a cartoon: smoke was practically coming out of her ears and her eyes had a burning intensity in it._

"_Ummm…..not really?" Bailey tried._

_Carrie smirked, and Bailey swore, he had never seen anything look as sinister and evil as she did in that moment._

"_I guess I'll have to change that…..looks like Rebecca will have plenty of chances to slow dance with you, Bailey….because the majority of the night will be dedicated to the classical slow songs."_

The red hair stood out from the crowd and the owner of the fiery hair just kept pushing herself determinedly through. Bailey almost exhaled a breath of relief. It was just Zoey. On normal circumstances, he really didn't care for her presence that much, but, lately she was acting differently. That is, before the camping trip, she was actually changing for the better. Thanks to Nani…..

Bailey smiled. The Native American horse rider never disappointed him and was just as free as he and Alma were when it came to riding. Unlike Alma, Nani still had that wild wind thing about her off of the tracks. Honestly, Nani was practically like Pocahontas; caring for the forest and its creatures. True, Nani and Zoey had clashed at one point (well, mostly Zoey doing the clashing), what with their different personalities, but eventually Zoey begrudgingly accepted her into the group.

Speaking of which, the youngest Stilton sister stalked over to where he and Alma were temporarily dancing. She tapped onto Alma's shoulder-not too lightly as Bailey noted- and asked in a somewhat sickingly sweet voice, "Mind if I cut in?"

Alma cast a wary glance between Zoey and Bailey for a moment before pulling out from Bailey with a sigh. "Good luck," her eyes seemed to say. She proceeded across the dance floor to the spot where she had been before Bailey had come up to her.

On Alma's whole journey back, Bailey watched her, slight dread filling his stomach. Which Zoey was it going to be? The clingy one who had been there in the early times that he had known Zoey and had just started reemerging after disappearing briefly? Or the one who was sweet and actually acted on her good intentions, not caring as much about her appearance and people's social connections?

At last Alma was out of his eyesight and Bailey turned, acknowledging Zoey. Zoey smiled at him, tilting her head slightly to the side. Dressed in light blue -which apparently was her signature color, considering she wore it as the majority of every single outfit-, Zoey looked almost the same as usual….but was that…..makeup smudged over her eyelids? It made her eyes stand out and look prettier than usual…

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, Bailey put his hand on Zoey's waist and held out his other for her to take. Zoey appeared to almost be shocked…as if she didn't quite believe that this was happening…; that she was dancing with Bailey, her long-time crush.

Bailey shot her a quizzical look, "Well?"

"Sorry," Zoey murmured, grabbing his hand hastily.

And when the two danced, Bailey found himself looking at her eyes the whole time.

* * *

Sarah tapped her black-gold ballet flats in anxiousness. Where was he? Will was making it awfully hard to talk to him about…..the book when he wouldn't even show up. Even Zoey and Chloe had been there for a good fifteen minutes, and they had shown up "fashionably late". Will was the only one missing out of all the campers.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Sarah spotted Alma coming towards her. Zoey was now dancing with Bailey. "Zoey must have cut in," Sarah realized.

"Hola," Alma smiled slightly.

"Hey," Sarah found herself waving her hand a bit.

"So…um," Alma cleared her throat, "how have you been doing?"

"Fine….." Sarah answered politely. Sarah wished she sounded friendlier towards Alma. She was one of the main reasons she was confronting Will!

"Good, good" Alma replied somewhat distracted.

"Alma," Sarah forced herself, "I-I'm sorry."

"For what?" Now she had her full attention.

"For, you know, not telling you about the feelings I have for Will." Sarah answered. "Which is nothing but friendship," she added in her head.

The corners of Alma's lips lifted up almost instantly. "As I said earlier," Alma said softly, "We are amigas por vida, friends for life."

"And nothing or no one can change that," she added somewhat defiantly.

Sarah hugged Alma, "Thanks"

Even though they had reconciled, both Alma and Sarah felt that continuing their plans prior to the conversation was necessary to heal any small cuts in their relationship.

"Hey," Alma pointed, "There's Will"

"I guess that's my cue to leave," she commented with a wink, taking her leave.

"Wait!" Sarah sputtered as she turned towards Alma, "Don't leave me here!"

She watched desperately as her friend vanished from view. Great….

Sarah felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.

She turned.

* * *

Carrie switched out the current song she was playing and chose an even slower one, courtesy of Chase, who had turned around and asked an extremely scarlet Chloe to dance. Will smirked, at least someone was going to be happy tonight….

_There's a calm surrender to the rush of day  
When the heat of a rolling wind can be turned away  
An enchanted moment, and it sees me through  
It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you  
_

Will spotted Sarah's blonde hair from the edge of the dance floor. He forced himself to walk over almost immediately. _Shouldn't you wait?_ A voice in his head asked. _Do you really want to make her miserable right away?_

_And can you feel the love tonight  
It is where we are  
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer  
That we got this far_

The music, and the moon, and practically everything was making it difficult to think. Will tapped gently on Sarah's shoulder, and, he swore in that moment, everything was in slow motion. Her bright blue eyes were brought out by a few smudges of mascara and eye shadow; she wore a scarlet strapless dress with black-gold flats. She was….breathtakingly beautiful….

_Heh, told ya_ the voice gloated, _You DO have feelings for her, pony lover boy…er….. Lover pony boy…..you wanna know what? Just forget it….  
_

_And can you feel the love tonight  
How it's laid to rest  
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds  
Believe the very best_

When Sarah turned, she felt like she was being trampled by horses; Will looked dashingly handsome in a tux. Why hadn't she noticed before?_ Because you're oblivious! _A voice sang, _And You know you like him!_ "No!" Sarah protested in her head. _Not only that, but he's not wearing a helmet like he does during horse competitions…his hair…..how I'd love to run my hands right through 'em. _The voice said dreamily.

There's a time for everyone if they only learn  
That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn  
There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors  
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours

Unlike the previous song, Carrie had lowered the volume; that almost made it worse. The song echoed off of the clearing, practically filling the minds of all the party goers. "Sarah and I won't be able to talk," he realized, "without dancing or leaving the party together." _ What are you waiting for? Go ask her! _

_And can you feel the love tonight  
It is where we are  
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer  
That we got this far_

"Ummm," Will cleared his throat, "Would you care to dance?"

Sarah looked up at him through her lashes, "S-sure!"

As they walked further into the dance floor, Sarah's hand brushed against Will's. _Grab 'em, sister, and don't let go!_ Following the voice's instructions for some odd reason, she clutched his hand tightly. Turning to take position, Will smiled at her._  
_

_And can you feel the love tonight  
How it's laid to rest  
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds  
Believe the very best_

At that point, every other slow dancer but Sarah and Will had rested their head on their partner's shoulder. Long off the dance floor, Bailey attempted to make a bet with Chase on who would hook up with whom by the end of the night.

_It's enough to make kings and vagabonds  
Believe the very best_

Even after the song ended, Sarah and Will still found themselves swaying together. Both were lost in the other's eyes. _ C'mon, I want you two kissing by nightfall!_

Will ignored that voice but decided that he had to confront her anyway._ If you're just going to reject her, you shouldn't have asked her to dance, Romeo. That's actually called something: leading a person on…_

"Shut up!" In his head, Will snapped at the voice.

The other campers started staring at Will and Sarah, saying things like "Well, it's about time…."

Both could hear the comments and their faces couldn't help but get redder and redder by the moment.

Pulling her towards him, Will took her in the directions of the lake. Sarah realized this and made no protest, despite the millions of butterflies rising up in her stomach. _He's still holding my hands…._

* * *

**Again, I'm awfully sorry about how long it took for me to update; consistency isn't exactly my strength. Keep in mind that Alma's part of this chapter was before the events of the Moonlight Dance part 2. During Sarah and Will's slow dance, the perspective changes.**

**Expect another chapter around Halloween!**

**Please give your comments, opinions, or suggestions!**


	13. Down By the Lake

**I'd just like to let my readers know one thing: I switched out the last chapter (the poll) with real story content. Because I used the switch feature, it probably did not notify the update for those of you who use story alert or author alert. Before you read this chapter, go back! (Unless you want to ruin the fun in reading and jump to the wrong conclusions). Also, I'm well aware that most-scratch that, all- of my characters are OOC. I'm working on that by rewatching some Horseland episodes from season 3.**

**Also, I'm sorry that this is WAY after Halloween.**

**The flashback is basically the little conversation that Sarah and Will have from **_**Fire, Fire, Burning Bright.**_

**I'd like to thank all my readers, as well as NightwingxJayfeather and TheRookieWritah1221 for being so kind as to review. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland, but I do own the background characters and plot line.**

* * *

It was starting to get really difficult to see. The winding trail and trees looming eerily over them made Sarah's heart beat fast with adredline. The moon didn't seem too bright anymore, so Sarah now completely relied on Will to guide her through. Rustling in the underbrush startled Sarah, who then gripped Will's hand tighter. Previous ghost stories floated around Sarah's head, chanting out the scariest parts and lines, making Sarah shiver.

"Hey, are you cold?" Will asked rather concerned.

Sarah shook her head. True, the wind was starting to get chilly, but, surprisingly, Sarah was pretty snug. Just touching Will made her face flush and insides melt. Which was super confusing. How could Will have such an effect on her?

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Will's voice was soft and comforting.

_I wonder if Will prepared us a picnic_ the voice in Sarah's head pondered.

* * *

Nani was off giggling with Chase again. The sight only served to make Chloe's blood boil. Didn't Chase just slow dance with her? Wasn't that the international gesture for, "He's mine. So, back off!". If it was, Nani obviously didn't know of it.

Chloe was sure that if Zoey was to ask her what she had spent the majority of the dance doing, she would have answered something along the lines of staring at Chase and glaring at Nani. Embarrassing part of it? Zoey was successful in her own advances. She danced with Bailey AND he didn't go off and ditch her for another girl….though that probably had to do with the fact that the only other girl he wanted to mingle with was already busy with Chase.

Oh, and another thing. Chase had caught her staring and smiled at her. The little confident, carefree smirks he gave her always lifted her spirits. But that didn't mean she wasn't humiliated. She was staring straight at him the whole time for Lord's sake! Then, a few others had spotted it and snickered amongst themselves. A couple of them had the nerve to even come up to her. And by a couple, she meant Kristin Anderson.

Under normal circumstances, Chloe wouldn't mind talking to her. Kristin's father was a wealthy businessman and her mother, a high-class musician. Kristin was pretty and very stylish. Sure, she didn't have it in her to snub people, like she and Zoey did (They are Stiltons. The very best, nonetheless), but still seemed to get Chloe and Zoey's perspectives. She was graceful and elegant, but wouldn't be afraid to tell you what she really felt or thought. Of course, with grace came manners, so she always (okay, **usually**) sugar-coated what she said.

"Hey, Chloe. Having boy troubles?" She smiled and even giggled.

"No, why would I EVER have boy problems. I'm super pretty and rich, so I have no issues at all!" Chloe immediately responded, perhaps with too much feeling and denial in her voice. It probably seemed obvious to Kristin that she seriously doubted her own words.

Then came Kristin's laugh again, "Of course not. What was I thinking?"

Chloe growled, "Wrong things, of course."

Kristin stopped laughing. Seeing the whole know-it-all attitude slip away, Chloe began to relax a little.

"I'm sure that Chase is perfectly into you, you know." Kristin murmured.

Whether she had meant for Chloe to hear it or not, her words made Chloe feel better.

"Really?" Chloe breathed out.

The corner of Kristin's lips turned upwards, "Why else would I say so? You guys would look super cute together."

"But….but Nani's…" Chloe stammered.

"Nani's his friend," Kristin finished.

She added, "And if you don't believe me, go ask Nani yourself." With that, Kristin lightly dragged Chloe by the elbow towards Nani and Chase.

Chloe didn't bother struggling. Her heart started to beat faster and uncontrollably around Chase, so she really couldn't do anything around him without coming off as rude or weird.

" 'ello!" Chase greeted cheerfully with a British accent.

"Why with the British accent, Chase?" Kristin inquired.

Nani intervened, "The Whitney's are all British. Chase and I were swapping stories and the Heritage Day Parade came up. We talked about the nationalities of our Horseland riders."

Chase completed her thought, "We were just talking about how I lacked the ways of the British when you walked up."

"I see…" Chloe answered, glancing carefully at Nani. The Native American's hazel eyes were bright and cheery.

Kristin linked arms with Chase and dragged him away with a, "I haven't heard from you lately. How about we reacquaintance ourselves with some punch?"

"Okay. You can do this, Chloe," she told herself. Kristin had specifically given her a chance to see whether she was justified in worrying about Nani stealing Chase.

* * *

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Will assured Sarah, who was now tightly grasping his right hand.

He pushed a tree branch forward, careful not to release it too soon, in case it might snap back at their heads.

"There," he pointed to the clearing. The moon was now more visible and it reflected off of the lake's surface.

He sat down on a nearby log. Will wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to do this. When he confronted her, was he to sit down or be standing? Sarah gently lowered herself down next to him, giving him a sense of déjà vu.

"_You blame yourself for the fire, don't you?" Sarah asked as she drew near to him. Will had just managed to get them all safely across the lake, away from the fire. This wasn't the easiest task in the world, thanks to Chloe and Zoey's inability to swim. Now that they were all safe, only one thing was on Will Taggert's mind. This was all __**his**__ fault. _

_Still sulking, Will replied, "Who else?" He remained in his prior position, still looking at the lake. _

_Sarah attempted to console him, "We were all given responsibilities. It's not your fault that Zoey and Chloe didn't live up to theirs."_

"_But I was in charge of the trip!" Will argued, "I'm responsible for everyone."_

"_And you did a great job! This was just a bad night," Sarah quickly interjected. _

"_We could've all been hurt, including the horses. Instead, we lost a few tents and saddles. And it's awful that a few acres of woods were burned, but we're all safe because of you."_

_At these words, Will took a look around. The horses seemed fine, grazing grass and looking only slightly cold. Molly and Alma were huddled together, still shivering. Zoey and Chloe were sneezing and were most likely catching a cold. _

"_See?" Sarah inquired, having observed that Will's expression had changed._

"_I sure hope my aunt and uncle see it that way," Will sighed, looking up at the stars._

"Will!" Sarah waved her hand in front of his face in concern.

"I'm sorry, Sarah." Will shook his head as he brought himself back from his memories.

"You had me worried there when you didn't answer me for a while." Sarah confessed, looking down.

"I didn't mean to. I was just remembering our last camping trip." Will looked up at the stars fondly.

Sarah giggled lightly, "And let's just say that **that** camping trip went down in flames."

Well, at least they could lightly joke about it now, Will thought.

"Hey, Will do you see that?" Sarah was now pointing to the treetops in the direction of the campsite. There was the unmistakable smell of burning wood, and a fire seemed to cover the treetops of that area.

* * *

"Zoey!" Chloe shrieked, "I can't believe you!"

"I'm, like, sorry, 'kay?" Zoey shouted back.

"Everybody out of the way!" Rick hollered as he and Jack threw their buckets of water on the trees.

Yes, the trees were on fire. Rebecca was clinging for dear life on Bailey's arm, despite being a safe distance away from the fire. The fire started up a few minutes after Will had left, but luckily the fire had started on three trees that were solitary from the rest of the forest.

Chase seemed to come out of nowhere with water guns. Handing them over to the others, he shouted, "Fire at the fire!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Chase was still slightly goofy and everyone couldn't help but crack a smile as they shot water at the fire in unison.

At last, the fire was out, and nothing remained but burned wood and smoke.

Hands on her hips, Chloe reprimanded Zoey, "I **told** you not to carry around matches!"

* * *

**Sorry, but I gotta end right there. I decided to leave a cliffhanger! Do you even want to guess how the fire started, as well as how and why Zoey carries matches?**

**Please give me your comments, suggestions, and opinions!**


	14. Déjà Vu

**Hey! I know it's been a REALLY long time since I updated a chapter for **_The Camping Trip_**. Yeah, you can pretty much blame writer's block and insecurity. I thought I lost all my readers (and I probably did) because there were barely any reviews for the last chapter. Those of you who all favorited and story-alerted me recently gave me hope.**

**I'd like to thank all my readers who are still out there and Nightwing of ThunderClan has my VERY SPECIAL thanks for being the only to review this chapter prior to the….writer's disease. **

**The anonymous users Lily Marigold, Lily Mae Hender, Holly, Maddy, Maddie, Not logged in, Bailey, and cherry rock also have my gratitude for reviewing the story recently. And thank you to TugLover98, twilightlover4evr, super Mario 675, kiwigirl32, and Horseland as well!**

**It's been over a year so my writing style has changed A LOT. I hope you'll put up with any new flaws I have as I try to remember what exactly I was trying to accomplish with this story.**

**Warning: Characters are MOST LIKELY OOC. And there is also some slight language….**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Horseland. If I did, Will's voice would be the same as season 1's again.**

* * *

"I seriously don't know what you were thinking!"

"I said I was sorry! It was an accident!"

"Are you **kidding me**? You nearly caused **another **fire! Not to mention, Mom and I already told you that you shouldn't carry around matches! Besides, what does Mom always say about responsibility?"

Molly and Alma watched as the oldest of the Stilton Sisters continued to berate the younger one.

"How did you even start the fire, anyway?" Chloe paused throughout her rant to ask the question that was on everyone else's mind.

Zoey looked sheepish, "After dancing with Bailey, I noticed that my nails weren't even and that my eye shadow had faded. So I took them out at the same time, and I guess I accidentally scraped the match against the nail file."

Chloe still looked suspicious, "How did you get your make-up mixed up with your survival kit?"

Zoey shifted, clearly uncomfortable, "I was rushing out of the tent, and must have grabbed it by mistake. I tried to hide the nail file and the match when Bailey returned behind my back, but I guess the match brushed against the tree I was leaning on and lit a fire."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "Only **you **could manage to light trees on fire on a camping trip two years in a row by some freaky way. You're just lucky no one was hurt and that no damage was done to the trees."

Zoey's eyes narrowed, "You're not Mom or anything. Besides, when did **you **become all serious, and mature, …and….and BLAH!"

Chloe stuck her nose in the air, "**Someone **has to **grow up **around here. And since it's obviously not going to be you, I'm stepping up."

"Please, Chloe," Zoey snorted. "You're only **one **year older than me."

While the two Stiltons continued to argue, two figures came from out of the trees.

"Will!" Bailey cried in relief. He hadn't seen his cousin and had immediately thought something bad had happened.

"What happened here?!" Will frowned, his face stern.

"Zoey kinda…started a fire…" Krystal deadpanned. "…again."

Rick scowled at the sisters, "Dammit! What is with you two and starting fires?!"

"Language!" Kristin gasped, obviously scandalized.

"My ears," Carrie whimpered as she covered them. "My innocence…"

"It's my fault," Chloe burst out.

The same question entered everyone's mind, including the speaker: _Why did Chloe say that?_

Chloe bowed her head, "I should have been more careful with the matches I carry around."

The eldest Stilton sister realized that what she was doing wasn't exactly right, but it would be the last bad thing she did. She needed to change, or at least try. Perhaps that was the reason why Chase liked Nani better? Because she was more mature and took responsibility for her own actions? She hadn't been a good example for her little sister. Maybe it was time to start.

"But…" Chase began to speak.

Nani nudged him meaningfully, gesturing her head over to Chloe. Whatever she said was her own decision.

"Chloe," Will said sternly. "You know the consequences. You're just lucky that no one was hurt and nothing was too damaged like last time."

"I know," Chloe's face was red with humiliation from being chewed out in front of everyone. The only thing that stopped her from getting too upset was the secret, satisfying knowledge that she hadn't really caused the fire, but was taking the blame for her little sister.

Will wasn't happy either. It always was awkward for him to suddenly step into the adult figure when it came to reprimanding the students of Horseland. He was only a year or two older than most of them.

It was like what his father used to tell his mother "You can either be the parent or the friend."

But Will wasn't any of these kids' parents. Not even close. Yet, he's been acting as an adult figure of sorts ever since he came to stay with his aunt and uncle five years ago. As Will reflected on this, he couldn't help but feel slightly robbed of his own childhood.

* * *

Chloe had to stay afterwards to help clean up. She didn't mind, though some of her nails did chip. Unfortunately, it would only just be the beginning of it.

Chase stayed to help too. He proved Chloe's theory right about him liking more mature girls when he mostly hung around her during cleaning.

"Chloe," Chase called, actually using her name.

"Chase," Chloe replied back, smiling slightly.

"Why'd you do it?" Chase's blue eyes hardened.

"And don't try to fool me," Chase added before she could say anything. "I'm dyslexic, not dumb."

"I didn't say that," Chloe said softly. "And I wouldn't ever think that either."

"I know," Chase gave a shrug of his shoulders and a small smile. "But don't try to get out of explaining."

"It's just…" Chloe struggled to explain. What was she supposed to say? That she was recklessly stupid and thought somehow taking her sister's punishment would be appealing to Chase?

Chloe exhaled, "…I just felt sort of…responsible for Zoey. I mean…I guess I haven't been the best role model for my sister."

Chase nods at her thoughtfully, "That's understandable I guess, but _Zoey _needs to face her consequences, not you. It's not helping her when you take the blame for her."

"Still," Chase pauses in sweeping away some of the decorations, "That was really nice and sweet of you to do that for your sister."

"Thank you," Chloe flushed. Somehow, Chase's comment made her feel much better than any compliment on her looks.

Chase grinned at her in response.

* * *

Sarah hesitated at the open flap of the big blue tent. Should she go inside? Will did seem rather upset.

Steeling herself, Sarah took a big breath. She'd have to do this. For Will.

"Are you okay?" Sarah leaned into the tent, still hanging around the entrance.

Will had buried his face into his hands, clearly sulking.

"It happened _again_, Sarah. _Again_." Will spoke to her, his face still hidden.

In a way, it was slightly adorable to Sarah when he sulked. He would take on the face of a petulant little child and…

_No. _She was _not _thinking those thoughts. Besides, she _shouldn't _think it was adorable whenever Will got upset.

Sarah hesitated by the entrance of the tent still. A few days ago, she would've crossed the gap between them without a doubt, but recent events left her uncertain. What if he interpreted it as the wrong way?

"_This is for Will. He needs it." _Sarah chanted in her head several times as she finally sat down next to him.

"I've been kidding myself the whole time," Will's voice began taking a more sulking tone. "I'm not the responsible adult figure here. I can't even stop the same two girls from starting a campfire every time."

"Will," Sarah said softly, "No one got hurt this time. There was very minimal damage, and Chloe and Zoey now know better. It's not your fault at all."

Will snorted, finally taking his face out from behind his hands. "It is. My aunt and uncle put me in charge of this trip, and I've let them down. _Again. _Not to mention this time, there's clients with us. Rebecca or Ethan could tell their parents and Horseland could get in serious trouble."

"They won't," Sarah soothed. "They're nice kids and would understand."

Ethan was a rather sweet and reasonable boy. Bailey and Sarah could both talk to Rebecca and Ethan and possibly convince them to be tight-lipped about the whole thing.

Will sighed, "Sometimes, I just wish I wasn't the one in charge."

Sarah was surprised. Will was a natural leader, and it had always seemed-

"Look at me," Will grumbled, "complaining and sulking whenever things don't work out. I guess I'm not much of a responsible person."

"You're a natural leader, Will," Sarah said in a tone that she couldn't even recognize. "You think fast on your feet and you care for all of us. You're not perfect, but neither is anyone else. Mistakes are made by everyone, but sometimes, they're just that. Mistakes. Blaming yourself for someone else's mistakes won't do anything but make you feel horrible. And you deserve better than that, Will."

"Thanks, Sarah," Will gave her a genuine smile. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"Oh god," a sudden voice jarred them out of their thoughts. "Am I interrupting something?"

The two turned toward the flap, only to see a mortified Lindsay Yanette. Her face was a red that seriously clashed with her own hair.

"No," Sarah immediately answered, as Lindsay looked carefully back and forth between the two.

What was so wrong with Sarah being next to Will? I mean, sure, they were alone in his tent, but-

Oh god.

Sarah's face flushed as she realized the implications.

"What did you need?" Will questioned from beside her.

Lindsay squirmed uncomfortably. "I had a few questions about the little tournament we were going to hold. I mean, if it's still on that is. But I can see that you're busy so I'll stop by some other time."

The red-head fled quickly afterward. Evidently, she had crashed into her partner, Jack Totters, as his voice sounded not-so-far from the tent.

"Woah, where you running to, Linds?" Jack chuckled.

If he came in next…

"I-um," Sarah flushed. "I should probably get going now."

"Alma and Molly are waiting for me back at our tent," Sarah weakly explained as she pushed herself up and hurriedly left the tent.

Will was able to hear Jack and Lindsay's conversation still.

"Will and Sarah, eh? Haha, Linds, I told you to wait until morning," Jack's laugh resounded in Will's ears as the boy teased his partner.

God, why did everyone think something was going on between him and Sarah?

Why did he himself think that there was something?!

Will buried his face back into his hands. He was going to have to get to the bottom of this, and soon. He didn't want to be accidentally leading Sarah on. She was a nice girl, after all, and deserved better.

* * *

"Buenas noches,"Alma greeted her friend as she walked into the tent. "It's been a crazy night, hasn't it?"

Molly wasn't paying attention, tracing her finger along her sleeping bag. Alma suspected that it was Molly and Jesse's initials in a heart.

Molly sighed dreamily, "Jesse was so sweet. And he dances really well!"

Alma playfully rolled her eyes but plopped down next to the African-American.

"Hey," Alma blinked as she realized the last member of their girl trio was missing. "Where's Sarah?"

"Oh." Molly said disinterestedly, "I think she said something about seeing Will."

"¡Dios mío!" Alma's jaw dropped. "She went to go see _Will?!_"

"I just said that," Molly pointed out, somewhat annoyed.

"Molly!" Alma grabbed the girl's shoulder and shook her gently, "_Sarah _went to go see _Will_."

"Wait-" Molly rapidly blinked as she realized what Alma had been pointing out. "OH MY GOD."

"Sí," Alma nodded. "Oh my god, indeed."

* * *

The first thing Chloe did when she got back to the tent she shared with her sister was collapse onto the sleeping bag in exhaustion. Happy exhaustion, that is, if such a thing even existed. Chloe very much doubted it, because who in the right mind would be tired from work and happy?

The first thing Zoey did when her sister got back was throw her arms around Chloe.

"Oh, thanks so much, Clo!" Zoey cried. "I thought you were going to rat me out for sure!"

"Get off me," Chloe grumbled, prying her sister from her.

"I seriously owe you," Zoey reached into their make-up bag. "I saw that you, like, chipped a lot of your nails cleaning up, so I'll fix them for you!"

Ah. Chloe knew what was going on. Whenever Chloe was mad at her or Zoey was feeling guilty for something that she did, Zoey would go into overdrive mode to make her sister happy. It was a misguided way to ease her guilt, but it had never really failed Zoey before.

So, while Zoey broke out the lavender nail polish for Chloe, the eldest Stilton sister finally began to talk.

"I came up with a new idea for _Stilton's Setup_," Chloe mentioned casually.

"Really?" Zoey's freckled cheeks shifted to reveal identical dimples. "I'm sure that, like, whatever you say will totally work."

"Quit brown-nosing," Chloe nudged her sister. "All you ever have to do is sincerely apologize. People will think you're a fool if you do this to everyone else."

"Clo," Zoey whined, "I just wanted you to stop being so mad at me. You're, like, my sister and BFF."

"Whatever," Chloe rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Anyway, what we've been doing so far is working, but it's way too slow for my taste."

"True," Zoey nodded. "So what are you thinking of doing?"

Chloe grinned like the Cheshire cat, "Make them jealous."

"Of each other?!" Zoey asked incredulously.

"Of course," Chloe pointed out. "Nothing wakes up two people to each other like the green-eyed monster."

"But are they seriously going to fall for that? I mean, what if the person actually likes Sarah or Will? Wouldn't that be a little mean?"

"_Aww_," Chloe pinched her little sister's cheeks. "You are actually gaining a conscience now! I'm so proud of you!"

"Stop it," Zoey swatted her hands away. "You make me sound like some terrible monster."

"It doesn't have to be real," Chloe explained. "Sarah and Will just have to _think _they have 'competition' for the other."

"But who's going to be willing to participate? Not to mention, it has to be somewhat realistic, or Sarah and Will won't believe that."

"Don't worry," Chloe waved her off, "I've already decided the perfect people for that."

The two sisters then burst into the evil laughter that they had previously practiced.

"Alright!" Zoey cheered.

"We actually did that in sync!" Chloe high-fived her sister, careful of her drying nails.

* * *

**Yeah, like I said... writing style changed a little and I'm out of touch with the characters. Hopefully I didn't do too badly.**

**I know it's never really explored in the series, but I always figured that Will had to grow up too quickly. He's fourteen, yet he acts as the adult figure in the show. Chloe's trying to grow up a little, but I'm not sure if I'm portraying that correctly. It'll be really helpful if you guys could give me hints and suggestions on the characterization.**

**Please give me your comments, opinions, and suggestions!**


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